Andre Hollins thinks the problem with the University of Minnesota basketball team is a lack of mental toughness.

The Gophers (18-9, 6-8 Big Ten) have lost eight of their past 11 games and are coming off the worst back-to-back losses in Tubby Smith's six seasons as head coach.

Iowa and Ohio State hammered Minnesota by a combined 47 points.

"I guess that's the difference," the sophomore point guard said after the Gophers' 71-45 loss Wednesday, Feb. 20, in Columbus, Ohio. "Just being mentally tough."

Big Ten Network analyst Jim Jackson agrees.

"A lot of the guys I'm watching over the last (three or so) years in Minnesota's case, when things do go wrong, it's just a snowball effect," said Jackson, a former Ohio State All-American. "Unfortunately, it always comes down on the coaches. In some instances, it's a valid truth and warranted, but in a lot of cases -- like this -- the players have a lot of say in that."

This isn't the first time the Gophers have collapsed late in the season. Minnesota managed just three wins in the final 11 regular-season games last season and just one win in the final 11 games of the 2010-11 season.

Jackson, one of the TV commentators at Wednesday's game, said it was apparent in the second half that the Gophers "laid down" as the Buckeyes pulled away with a 16-0 run.

Jackson noticed the Gophers weren't hustling after loose balls and rebounds. They weren't playing as intensely on defense. They gave up the ball carelessly, finishing with 24 turnovers.

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It was the most turnovers in a game for a Big Ten team this season and the most for the Gophers since 2007.

Minnesota trailed 37-31 with 13 minutes, 30 seconds remaining. But the Gophers were outscored 32-8 and trailed by 30 points with two minutes left. They went more than 10-1/2 minutes without a field goal and committed nine turnovers and nine fouls during that span.

"If it's not in a guy (to be mentally tough), it's hard to instill that in him," Jackson said. "That's why you want to surround players who are a little fragile with guys who can get through it. That's how you mask a lot of that. Unfortunately for Minnesota, you have more than a few players who do that. So you can't mask it, and you can't hide it. It's almost across the board in some instances."

Jim Dutcher, who coached the Gophers to their last official Big Ten title in 1982, said using poor mental toughness as an excuse is "a crutch."

"In the Iowa and Ohio State game, there was no fight-back in them," Dutcher said. "But if you say, 'We didn't play hard enough,' then the next question should be, 'Why not?' These are crucial games."

Dutcher places much of the blame for the late-season losses on Smith's unstable rotation. The Gophers have started the same five players -- Andre Hollins, Austin Hollins, Joe Coleman, Rodney Williams and Trevor Mbakwe -- in all but one Big Ten game this season. But Smith's substitution pattern is all over the place, especially Wednesday, Dutcher said.

"What Tubby is struggling with is what is his best combination," he said. "He's experimented (Elliott) Eliason and Mbakwe at the same time, and then he'll use Oto (Osenieks) out there more now and (Mo Walker). You don't want to be experimenting in the middle of February."